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Group admin:: globalgypsy
Created:: October 21, 2007
: 126 Members

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nonprofit, philanthropy, work, career, business, charity, entrepreneurs, volunteer, fundraising

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Where did micro-finance get its start?

Posted: Oct 24, 07 3:07pm

In my research of non-profits, I'm running across a lot of NPs that are focusing on micro-finance.

There seems to be a groundswell of generosity in recent years that apparently started with a small effort from Dr. Muhammad Yunus in India. He's impacted the lives of many, and was honored with the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006. I found the interview of him on the Charlie Rose Show pretty informative:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1986204406774837194

note: this is a 58 minute tv program download.The video streams so you don't have to wait long, just be sure to have an hour for viewing.

I'm not an expert at this, just passing along what I scratch on the surface as I do my research.

Are others aware of micro-finance efforts that were in place prior to Dr. Yunus, founder of Grameen Bank?

Tags:

Dr. Muhammad Yunus, Grameen Bank, micro-lending, micro-finance, India, poverty, non-profit

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RobinWolaner

Posted: Oct 25, 07 10:13am

globalgypsy wrote:

In my research of non-profits, I'm running across a lot of NPs that are focusing on micro-finance.

There seems to be...

I had heard that he was the first. Accion has been around a long time, but when I traveled with them, I believe they said he was the pioneer. One of the confusing things (to me anyway) is what the various institutions do. I am a donor to Accion, but I believe they work with Grameen Bank and other banks in their services. I should be clearer about it, I know they have explained it to me. But finance is tricky. The number that sticks out to me is the 98% repayment rate that Accion (and others I'm sure) has on its micro-loans. That is better than banks and certainly the subprime loans in this country. It's kind of all I need to know -- this is working, and there are many terrific organizations in the field.

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